Reference no: EM132353313 , Length: word count:2400

Plan and Implement Administrative Systems Assignment -

Assessment 1 - Activity Tasks

Complete the following activities individually or in a group (as applicable to the specific activity and the assessment environment).

Task 1: Case Study A - Initial Consultation

Billy is participating in a consultation to discuss making improvements to the workflow system between the sales and accounts departments.

The consultation is made up of four stakeholders:

• Billy (senior administrator)
• Sales manager
• Accounts manager
• Company owner.

Currently, when a sale is made, it takes one day for accounts to receive the paperwork, and a further one to two days to process paperwork. An invoice can take up to four working days to be sent out to customers.

Both the sales and accounts managers acknowledge that the system is slow and can cause delays in finalising sales. The company owner wants to speed up the process to exchange work between the departments as delays in business transactions are taking place. Sometimes, invoices need to be sent out the same day (or the day after), and on many occasions, this has not occurred.

The workflow system

Sales paperwork is collected from an internal post tray by an administration assistant once a day in the morning; this is delivered to the accounts department in-tray for further sorting. Depending on other work that is being done, the accounts tray may not be sorted until the afternoon.

During the day, further sales paperwork is placed in the tray ready for the next day; this means that any urgent orders are often delayed unless the salesperson takes this personally to the accounts department to request immediate processing. This is not an effective use of the sales team's time as they often need to pick up telephone calls or send email communications in response to requests.

Objective - To provide you with an opportunity to identify requirements of, or modifications to, the administrative system through consultation with system users and other stakeholders in accordance with organisational and budgetary requirements.

Refer to Case Study A - Initial Consultation

1. What other administrative systems may the workflow system affect? (Provide two).

2. Provide two suggestions as to how the workflow system could be improved.

3. From your own thinking, how would you consult with the other stakeholders to determine the need for improvements?

Task 2: Case Study B - Quotations for Requirements or Modifications

Bella works for a courier company. She must obtain a quotation from an IT specialist to upgrade the organisation's work booking system. The current system needs to be streamlined to make this more customer-friendly.

The procedures for submitting a quotation are -

Gain the relevant information to write the details for the quote request:

• the goods or services required
• duration/quantity of goods or services
• timeframe or period for providing goods or services

Follow the correct format/style for writing quotation requests:

• writing the date
• providing the details
• requesting a date for receipt of quotation
• including timeframes for the supply of goods or services (as applicable)

Send the quotation request to the IT specialist by email:

• copying in the company owner on the email to the IT specialist

Follow up on the quote request by telephone, to confirm receipt and understanding of the details.

Agree a date for receiving the quotation by.

Bella must also enquire with the IT specialist on customer's data privacy to make sure that any changes to the system will not compromise data security. She must also ensure that streamlining the system will not conflict with Australian consumer law by the omission of information or customer booking procedures.

Objective - To provide you with an opportunity to know how to obtain quotations from suppliers/developers for the identified requirements or modifications to be made to the system in accordance with organisational policy and procedures.

Refer to Case Study B - Quotations for Requirements or Modifications

1. What must Bella do to obtain a quotation from the IT specialist?

2. How must Bella communicate with the IT specialist?

3. With regards to legislation, what must Bella make sure of?

Task 3 -

Objective - To provide you with an opportunity to understand how to select a supplier or developer in accordance with organisational policy and procedures.

Develop a list of criteria that you could use for short-listing suppliers and/or developers. (This should contain at least five points).

Task 4: Case Study C - Developing Strategies

A workgroup responsible for the development of an administrative system must decide on implementation strategies. These will need to be discussed and mutually agreed on in a consultation.

These will need to take into consideration the following factors:

• Workers will not be able to access the system during development work
• The upgrades will need to be tested
• Functionality will be different for workers after the upgrades.

Objective - To provide you with an opportunity to identify and develop implementation strategies in consultation with staff.

Refer to Case Study C - Developing Strategies

1. Suggest three implementation strategies that could be used for developing the system and say why you are suggesting these.

2. From your own thinking, how can you ensure information is presented in a style and manner that is suitable for the audience?

3. What can you do to communicate successfully in consultations with staff? (Provide five points).

Task 5: Case Study D - Participating in the Implementation Process

Gwen needs to encourage her work team to participate in the implementation of a new administrative system. Although some of the team are interested, the majority are not that inclined to become involved in the implementation process.

The system change requires:

• New forms and templates
• New data storage
• Updated team administration procedures
• Change in work role responsibilities.

She needs to find ways to involve and engage staff in the process.

Objective - To provide you with an opportunity to encourage staff to participate in all stages of the implementation process.

Refer to Case Study D - Participating in the Implementation Process

1. How can Gwen encourage staff to get involved in the implementation process? (Provide two suggestions).

2. From your own thinking, explain how Gwen could collaborate with others to implement changes.

3. What suggestions could Gwen make for data storage? (Provide three suggestions).

Task 6 -

Objective - To provide you with an opportunity to know how to implement system in accordance with organisational and legislative requirements.

1. Provide three organisational requirements that may need to be followed when implementing system changes or modifications.

2. For your business industry, provide two legislative requirements that you will need to give consideration to.

Task 7: Case Study E - System Procedures

Customer record procedures

Procedures for updating customer records have recently been amended; the following changes have been made:

• Customer information must be captured in the customer database system; they can no longer be left on shared drives or in email folders
• Information provided by customers must be recorded to the customer's record; this is regardless of how minor the communication may appear to be - customer record updates must always be dated
• Email correspondence from customers must be acknowledged to inform them of record updates.

Objective - To provide you with an opportunity to define and communicate procedures for using the system to staff.

Refer to Case Study E - System Procedures

1. Looking at the procedures in the case study, write a brief script that you can use to communicate these changes to customer service staff.

2. How would you communicate these to staff and why?             

Task 8: Case Study F - Training and Support

Your company has just bought a new state-of-the-art telephone communication system. This is scheduled to be in use in three weeks' time, and you have been asked to organise a training program for staff.

Staff includes:

• Reception staff
• Office staff
• Production/floor staff.

This training program must be suitable for staff in all work areas, as this will be accessible to staff throughout the premises.

However, the following training requirements have been noted -

Reception and office staff will need to be trained on all functionalities; this includes:

• taking calls and putting calls through to other personnel
• forwarding calls to staff voicemail
• monitoring call logging (i.e., volume of calls, length of calls and call times)
• setting up answering services (outside of office hours)
• setting up and managing a digital phone directory
• setting up voicemail boxes
• call forwarding
• call barring
• setting up and facilitating conference and video calls

Production/floor staff:

• taking and forwarding calls to other staff
• forwarding calls to staff voicemail
• setting up and accessing personal voicemail boxes
• call forwarding.

The system does come with a user manual, and an IT specialist from the telecommunications company is able to visit to help in the delivery of training.

Objective - To provide you with an opportunity to provide training and support for staff on the use of the new or modified system.

Refer to Case Study F - Training and Support

With reference to the case study, outline a training program that you could use for the two different groups of staff; you should include the types of training materials for delivery of training and how support can be given to staff to use the system.

Task 9 -

Objective - To provide you with an opportunity to understand about contingencies to ensure minimal impact on users.

1. Why should you make contingency plans when changing or modifying systems?

2. What three things do contingency plans address?

Task 10 -

Objective - To provide you with an opportunity to know how to monitor the system for usage, security and output in accordance with organisational requirements.

1. How can you monitor the system? (Provide at least four points.)

2. Name an issue you may experience with each of the following:

• Usage
• Security
• Output.

Task 11 -

Objective - To provide you with an opportunity to understand about modifying the system to meet changing needs in accordance with organisational requirements; and identifying further modifications and notifying users.

1. Provide three reasons why you may need to modify or change a system.

2. How can you notify users of any modifications or changes? (Provide at least three ways).

Task 12: Case Study G - Maintaining Training Needs

You are required to assess the training needs of two members of staff. Their training records can be found in human resources (HR); these are kept as part of HR's staff records with the employee relations representative.

Judy

Judy has just been promoted to a supervisory role in her work team. Instead of providing customer services, she is now required to oversee the work team and to help manage difficulties. She must also roster work tasks with the team and provide administrative support to maintain staff work records. Judy has excellent customer service experience and product knowledge, but she has never supervised a team or completed administrative records.

Judy's training records identify comprehensive customer services training with some additional communications training.

Lisa

Lisa has just joined the company and is working in reception. She has had two previous reception jobs in the past two years since leaving school. Lisa can use technology systems but is unfamiliar with the system in place at the company. She is also unfamiliar with the company's products and administrative systems; Lisa is a new joiner who has yet to receive any kind of training.

Lisa's training records identify senior secondary qualifications in English, mathematics, science, social sciences and technology.

Objective - To provide you with an opportunity to monitor staff training needs and train new staff on administrative system.

Refer to Case Study G - Maintaining Training Needs

1. Where can the training records for Judy and Lisa be located?

2. What information do these contain for each person?

3. From your own thinking, in conversations with both persons, how can you determine their skill gaps and needs?

4. What training would you suggest for both Judy and Lisa? (Provide two suggestions for each person).

Assessment 2 - Report Writing

Objective: To provide you with an opportunity to show you have the required skills for this unit.

This activity will enable you to demonstrate your knowledge of the following foundation skills:

• Learning
• Reading
• Writing
• Oral communication
• Numeracy
• Navigate the world of work
• Interact with others
• Get the work done.

Answer the activity in as much detail as possible, considering your organisational requirements.

All activity answers will vary depending on the learner and the organisation they work for, but the learner should be able to demonstrate their competency in the unit requirements.

Refer to Case Study H - Training in Administrative Systems

Case Study H - Training in Administrative Systems

You work for an organisation that has just reviewed its employee training records. It has been found that training is well overdue in some of its administrative systems.

Some staff have missed out on workplace training in the following systems:

• Booking work orders
• Using the telephone system
• Incident/accident reporting
• Ordering resources and supplies.

The above systems can be trained with minimal resource requirements. No budget is required for training as this can be done by the organisation, but some training resources will be needed; this includes procedure lists, PowerPoint presentations and information sheets.

A. For one of the administrative systems, develop a training program and write this down. You should conduct research to base your training on a real situation or example. If you do not have access to a workplace to assess an administrative system, you can research online or base your training on a system of your own thinking (note: incident/accident reporting can be researched through work health and safety guidance).

Any research that you obtain should be submitted with your workbook, along with any training materials that you produce (such as a PowerPoint presentation or information sheet(s)).

You should:

• Identify a suitable length of time for the training
• Plan how each aspect would be covered and ordered in training
• Plan and write out the training you would deliver; this may include a session schedule to show activities, a PowerPoint presentation and a user-guide
• Identify the format of the training; for example, it may be a demonstration, interactive or classroom format
• Determine where costs will originate from with regards to training.

B. As part of your training preparations, provide details on how you would deliver this.

You should:

• Explain any use of technologies
• Detail the training materials you would use; for example, procedural lists, legal guidance or any interactive elements (e.g., tests or activities)
• Outline what you would communicate to staff in training and how you would interact with them.

Assessment 3 - Written Questions

Objective: To provide you with an opportunity to show you have the required knowledge for this unit.

This activity will enable you to demonstrate your knowledge of the following performance evidence:

• Work with relevant personnel and stakeholders to identify administrative system improvements
• Document necessary requirements or modifications
• Provide training and support for staff to use the new or modified system
• Monitor the new system and identify future improvements and staff training needs.

Answer the activity in as much detail as possible, considering your organisational requirements.

All activity answers will vary depending on the learner and the organisation they work for, but the learner should be able to demonstrate their competency in the unit requirements.

Refer to Case Study I - Administration Improvements

Case Study I - Administration Improvements

Company A has expanded its operations; it has recently taken on five new members of staff and is now finding that three of its current administrative systems are no longer efficient.

Records and filing

A new records and filing system needs to be established as current methods are not fast or robust enough to deal with the increase in work. Previously records were put together ad hoc, but now a logical and more ordered system needs to be put in place.

Needs include:

• Data management and security
• Information and data processing
• Creating records
• Storing records.
• Internal communications

Current workplace communications no longer meet the company's expanding needs; a new communications system needs to be developed to ensure that information is circulated internally with efficiency and in a timely manner.

Whereby previous communications were just by word-of-mouth, a more definitive and planned system needs to be put in place to ensure no one misses out on receiving communications.

Needs include:

• Determining efficient methods for conducting communications
• Using appropriate communication equipment and tools
• Providing training on communication processes.
• Finances and accounting

Due to an increase in business, systems for generating invoices and for processing payments, needs to be improved.

This includes how long it takes for information to be passed on to accounts, and how quickly accounts are able to produce documentation and paperwork for passing on or sending out to customers.

Needs include:

• Better workflow processes from departments to accounts
• Clear guidance on accounting processes and timeframes
• Improved access to accounts for work departments.

A. Explain how you would work with personnel and stakeholders to identify the administrative improvements.

This must include:

• How you would document any requirements or modifications.
• How you would inform, train and support staff to use the new or modified systems.
• How you would monitor the systems to ensure changes were successful or further improvements were identified.
• How you would put mechanisms in place to identify if future improvements need to be made and for staff training.

Attachment:- Administrative Systems Assignment Files.rar